Hidden Ambitions
by h1na
Summary: By impersonating a boy, Seung Mi Na decides to join the Costal Defence Force. Not too soon, Hwang finds out and things don't go quite as planned. [ HwangMi Na ] [CHAPTERs 5 AND 6 ADDED ]
1. Prologue

**Title**: _Hidden Ambitions_

**Story Author**: Hina L- dreamsparkhotmail.com

**Story Assistance (Not Beta-reader): **Aini L - morninglight hotmail.com (Yup, we are sisters!)

**Disclaimer: **I'm just an 11 year old who enjoys playing the game so I don't own anything related to it.

**Summary: **By impersonating a boy, Seung Mi Na decides to join the Costal Defence Force. Of course, like most of her desires, this leads to more problems.

**Author's Notes: **This is my first Soul Calibur fic so please excuse any mistakes - I don't know much about Soul Calibur so there will probably be lots of them. When thinking of this story, Mulan never crossed my mind and I'll try to make this story differ from Mulan as much as possible. I'm just typing up the Prologue to see if anyone would like me to continue as I have many other fics to be getting on with (so please review after reading this). Lastly, my spellings will differ because I live in England. Enjoy reading!

**Prologue**

Seung Mi Na poured scorching, smooth tea from a jade teapot into two petite cups. If she had any poison, then she would have slipped it into one of the cups and she would make sure that it would be handed Hwang Sung Kyung, a student of her father's. She loathed Hwang for many different reasons which included his cold attitude, his great skills which Mi Na's father loved, her father's liking for him and along with many others, his membership with the Coastal Defence Force.

Mi Na had always admired the Coastal Defence Force and had attempted to join it. She was refused simply because she was a girl. Mi Na's eyebrows curved into a frown at the memory of it.

"That moron, lucky for him he's a boy," Mi Na told herself as she went out into the yard, clutching a tray with the two cups propped upon it.

When Mi Na stepped outside she noticed her father staring at Hwang showing off his moves. She pretended not to be too impressed when she held out the tray towards her father, Seung Han Myung, who politely said thank you and took one cup.

"Look, Mi Na, hasn't Hwang improved even though he didn't need any improving?" Mi Na's father asked her.

"Yeah, whatever," Mi Na mumbled, pretending to be interested in her nails.

Mi Na started heading indoors when her father instructed Hwang to show her the moves she had missed whilst making tea.

"Thank you but I've got better things to be doing -"

"But it's only a couple of moves," Mi Na's father said.

"I said I've got better things to be doing," Mi Na repeated. She rolled her eyes when Hwang ran up to them.

"Mi Na, there is no need to be jealous," told her father.

"I am not jealous," Mi Na bellowed as her amber eyes widened. She stretched her hands out and gave Hwang a hard push. She then ran up to her room before she could get scolded by her father.

Mi Na could feel hot tears rolling down her cheeks. The reason of them being there weren't her or her father's fault, but were Hwang's fault. For existing.

_Just because he has a bit of talent and he is in the Coastal Defence Force makes him think like he owns this place, _Mi Na thought. She hated one of these times in her life where she wished she was a boy. They got so much more privileges.

"A boy!" Mi Na yelled out loud, "Of course, why didn't I think of it earlier - oh it's too simple! I could join the Coastal Defence Force by being a boy..."

Without hesitating, Mi Na went out to purchase some boy's clothes and items that would keep her identity hidden. In the end she bought some very baggy clothes somehow resembling Hwang's and a large handkerchief which she would use to keep her hair out of view. She took a couple of days to make the wig of a boy's and a sleek and small moustache.

Finally, she stepped out of the house unnoticed and pulled on the boy's clothes and wig. She started vibrating as she asked a man if she could join, making her voice sound as low as possible.

"A couple of years ago we would have let you join just like that but since it is an honour nowadays to be in the Coastal Defence Force I'm afraid you will have to show us you're worthy enough," A burly man said.

"Oh I am, just you watch me." Mi Na took out her weapon and showed off some of her fancier moves. The man looked impressed already.

"I think we could let you in. You'll have to give me a few details though. What's your name?"

"Um..." Mina grew heated in the face as she struggled to find a boy's name for herself, "It's um... Song - yeah, Song Hwang."

"That's an odd name... well, the world is never short of weirdos. I need to know your parents names, ages - "

"I don't have parents... I live by myself sadly. Somewhere where I can't be disturbed," Mi Na said quickly.

After letting him know her age, Mi Na was told to meet at the same place tomorrow. She couldn't believe herself. She was in. She was finally in the Coastal Defence Force and it felt good. She happily past Hwang coming out of his class. She couldn't care less about the cold look he shot her. Mi Na could not wait for tomorrow.

**Author's (Huge) Note: **Some of you have probably seen this fic around before – with more chapters than this. Well, it's the same fic. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this all sorted out. My account got deleted (/hina) but I never heard why so I made a new account. Hiddden Ambitions is the story I would like to continue most and I'm sorry yet again for taking so long in posting it up. I should have all the chapters up shortly. Once again I'm really sorry… hm… I wonder if I have any readers left…


	2. Learning

**Author's Note: **I'm very sorry for the late update yet again. I have been busy (as we all are at the end of the school year) and my computer got corrupted and so most of my files have been deleted. I was able to find 2 and a half chapters on the lap top which means I have to type out the rest all over again so please bear with me. I suppose this will teach me to save my files on disk!

**Chapter 1: **_Learning_

The next day Mi Na got up earlier than usual and got dressed in the male's clothes she had bought the day before. She felt excited as she sneaked out of the house unnoticed.

She entered a large yard where boys and men mingled about, chatting about unnecessary topics. A huddle of boys caught Mi Na's attention. She walked over towards them to see what the fuss was about. She raised her eyebrows when she saw that it was just a boy showing off some badly composed moves.

"Good, isn't he?" asked a boy next to her.

"I guess," Mi Na shrugged, and then added, "But I could do better."

"Oh yeah?" asked the boy in a threatening manner, "Hey, T! This little wimp reckons he's better at it than you!"

The boy in the middle of the crowd stopped and walked over to Mi Na slowly. Mi Na didn't have to be asked. She launched into one of her more impressive moves and finished gracefully to awes of approval.

"You look like an amateur compared to him, T," one of the boys said. T scowled at Mi Na.

But before he could do anything, a booming voice called, "Get in rows everyone!"

Mi Na pushed her way out of the crowds to be as far way as possible from that T and instead filled the gap next to a slim boy in baggy clothing. Mi Na smiled at him in an attempt to be friendly but he just returned a faint smile. For an hour and a half the instructor at the front barked instructions at everyone while he munched on some of his breakfast. Being honest, Mi Na had to admit that this was a total waste of time as she already knew the basics by heart.

"Okay, I want you to do it on your own while I observe you," the instructor cried.

"Oh no!" the boy next to Mi Na whimpered.

Mi Na looked at him and smiled kindly. She told him that the way he was holding his sword was wrong and managed to correct him. It was thanks to Mi Na that they each earned a satisfied nod from the instructor. The boy smiled gratefully at Mi Na.

"Thanks er..." he began.

"Song Hwang. And you?"

"Lee Takato."

It looked like Mi Na had earned enough enemies but at least she managed to make a friend. Though he did look and seem a bit odd, Mi Na was happy with him. But she wasn't happy with T and his gang. On many occasions both Mi Na and T had gotten into trouble for having a go at each other. One time, however, they had a serious consequence.

On that particular day Mi Na had not been concentrating on the things around her but instead on what her father had told her that morning. He had said that Mi Na had been lazy about her usual duties. What did he know? Mi Na's bubble of thought burst when she whacked her Zanbatoh into someone. Into T. He fell to the ground but quickly regained himself as he clamped his hand round Mi Na's ankle and pulled her to the ground next to him. People backed out of the way as the instructor raced towards them. He pulled them both up and dragged them into a small, dark room. There was a boy with his back to them in the corner. It was Hwang.

"I've had it with you two. Whenever you get the chance you like to kill each other. You leave me no choice but to suspend you for two weeks - "

"No! You can't do this!" Mi Na and T cried out in protest. Hwang turned round to face them while Mi Na tried her hardest not to face him.

"I already have. Maybe this will teach you," with that, the instructor walked out of the room.

As Mi Na marched out of the room, T stuck his leg out causing Mi Na to fall. Her wig fell off her head and bounced onto the floor, revealing her handkerchief. T laughed wickedly and walked out of sight before she could lay her hands on him.

"Excuse me, but for what reason do you have fake hair? It is a hazard around here," Hwang said as he walked towards her.

"Um... I have a bald head and - er... I want to make out I have hair," Mi Na said hurriedly, trying her hardest not to face him.

She could feel Hwang's fingers inching towards her. Seconds later, he had tugged the handkerchief off her head. Her russet hair fell onto her shoulders. Hwang wrenched it and steered her face round so she had to meet his eyes, which were filled with indescribable anger.

"Seung!"

**Author's Notes: **So there it is. I hope it sounded the same one as the chapter was before. Well, the next update may be late but we have the summer holidays in a week's time so I will probably update frequently then. Now that you've read, please review.


	3. Coping

**Chapter 2: **_Coping_

"I - I can explain," Mi Na stuttered, wincing at the pain Hwang was causing her.

"What are you doing here Seung?" Hwang demanded.

"I thought I couldn't let my fighting skills go to waste and... well... I think it's unfair that women are not allowed to join the Force -"

"There are rules and regulations for a reason. You clearly shouldn't participate in what you don't know about," Hwang loosened his grip on Mi Na's hair and frowned in thought.

"Um... so I guess this is it for me?" Mi Na squeaked.

"Yes. I want you to do the wise thing and quit this nonsense. I'm not going to report this but that's only because I respect your father and who knows what would happen to him if anyone found out his daughter had done such a shameful thing."

Mi Na was heartened that he cared for her slightly and gave him a small smile as he walked out of the room. But obviously, she wasn't going to listen to him and quit the Coastal Defence Force now that she had gotten this far.

oOo

During the two weeks that Mi Na was suspended, she spent most of her time doing two things. She got up just as the sun shone it's first rays and crammed in some serious training, while she spent most of her time trying to catch up with her usual household chores during the afternoons.

oOo

When Mi Na's suspension was over, she had to admit that all that training was worth it in the end as she finally had her rank raised. She rather enjoyed her last session with Takato until he brought up the subject of him visiting her.

"Now that we won't get to see each other much, why don't I visit you?" Takato enquired. Mi Na stared at him, hoping her shock wouldn't show too much.

"Umm... yeah, that's a great idea!" Mi Na blurted out.

"So... where do you live?"

"Um... do you know the path with the tilted cherry trees? I live there..." Mi Na tried to avoid facing Takato. She knew there was some sign of worry showing on her face.

"But isn't that where Hwang - "

"Yeah but I kind of live with him!" Mi Na cut in hurriedly.

oOo

Mi Na opened the door to her house, her male clothes hugged tightly to her chest.

"Mi Na!" her father's voice roared. Mi Na jumped.

Right in front of her stood her father with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. Mi Na quickly hid the bundle of clothes behind her back.

"Mi Na, there's no water left. Did you get it this morning?"

"Sorry father, I forgot," Mi Na murmured.

"Mi Na, what is the matter with you?" her father asked. The sad part was that he sounded more upset than angry.

"I'm sorry I've been neglecting my duties father. I've just been kind of busy."

"It's okay, Mi Na. I understand. But please don't let it happen again," her father said. He then frowned and tilted his head slightly.

"Um... so can I go?" Mi Na asked slowly.

"Mi Na, what's that your hiding behind your back?" her father enquired.

"I'm not _hiding_ anything..." Mi Na cried. Her father's steely gaze unnerved her slightly, causing her to outstretch her arms and hand him the clothes.

Just as Mi Na's father examined the clothes with distaste, Hwang entered. That's when an idea hit her.

"They're Hwang's clothes! He doesn't have time to wash them so I offered to myself. Aren't I sweet?" Mi Na lied, eyeing Hwang desperately.

"Is this true Hwang?" Mi Na's father questioned.

"Uh... yeah, whatever..." Hwang mumbled, feeling sorry for the girl but rolling his dark eyes at the same time.

There was a moment where Mi Na's father didn't look convinced but he eventually handed Mi Na back _her_ clothes. A sigh of relief escaped from Mi Na's lips.

oOo

**Author's Notes: **I'm sorry for taking long but it's hard to remember something that you've wrote so long ago. Well, hope you enjoyed it but I'm not too keen on this chapter. Now, I would like to take this as an opportunity to thank the reviewers like I used to =).

**The Zelda Master: **Yeah, I'm not too pleased about retyping all the chapters (even though I like writing). I hope you've found your SC humour fic. Thanks for the encouragement.

**Tap: **Thanks for reviewing. Now that you mention it, I think I kind of see your point. But only Hwang knows so far =).

**Xingy: **I would like to give you a big THANK YOU and a big hug (I have extra long arms XD) for being so very patient and being such a loyal reviewer. You're encouragement has helped a lot.

**The Final Fantasy Warrior: **I would like to thank you on taking your time to give me a nice long review. About Seung Mi Na being OOC, I think from what Namco has shown of her, I perhaps see her a little differently. Thanks for reminding about the AU note, I completely forgot! I'm now twelve but I wrote most of this story when I was eleven. I'm not sure if my writing style has changed slightly or not. I normally split different scenes and such but I'm not sure what happened with my two previous chapters, I'll check up on those later. Once again, thanks for the help and encouragement - it's taught me to be a little more careful =).

**Amazon Bunny: **Thanks! Your lucky because you didn't have to wait so long!

I'm not sure how long the next chapter is going to take but I found half of it on the lap top so I really hope it won't take so long. Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate each and every one. =).


	4. Meeting

**Chapter 3: **_Meeting_

Mi Na was most certainly having a miserable life for the next few weeks. One of the many reasons was because she just had too much to cram into her day, causing her to lose a few hours of sleep each night. Another was the fact that she had conceal her other identity from her father and many other people which was getting quite difficult at times. To add to her misery, T had caught up with her in the Coastal Defence Force.

"I heard that Song keeps a hairbrush wherever he goes," T hissed loudly in training one day. Mi Na scowled.

"Okay, this is a basic course which covers everything we have learnt this month - You will go through it two by two. Right, let's get started. Bae, Yong go on," the instructor explained.

Yong, one of Mi Na's friends, gulped and stepped forward. Mi Na watched him swagger out of sight with baited breath.

"So? How was it?" Mi Na questioned sternly once Yong had came out of the course. He looked dazed.

"There was this part where you had to whack these bits of wood away from your path. I think I did badly on it."

"Okay. I've got a plan," Mi Na began, she formed a huddle with Yong and five other boys and began planning out on how to make T's journey through the course more entertaining.

When the seven of them had agreed on their plan, they all slipped out of the crowd, unnoticed, and scattered about the course, ready to take action.

Mi Na went to the third section of the course. A thick layer of bark lay underneath three tall, wooden poles. Mi Na climbed to the top of the first one and was able to see little houses in the distance but her attention quickly went back to focusing on her job she had commanded herself to do.

In the poles there were hollow circles which a chunky rope went through. On the pole where Mi Na was standing on was a knot to secure the rope as it started from there. Carefully and swiftly as she could, Mi Na began untying the knot. It wasn't as easy as she hoped it to be - the knot was extremely tight. Finally the rope was only hanging from the second and third pole.

It took Mi Na less time than she calculated to climb to the second and third pole and free the rope from both of them as well. She stood on the third pole wearing a triumphant smirk and feeling satisfied. From here she could see the fourth section of the course which was separated by a sturdy wall. Because the rope carried on to the fourth section of the course, Mi Na knew T would be delayed and hopefully he would lose points for it. 

Mi Na silently slipped into a clump of bushes nearby. After a few minutes, T came into view. Mi Na tried to stifle a giggle as she saw him staring open-mouthed at the rope-free poles, covered in mud, bark, sand, clay, dust and anything else you could think of. 

"... HWANG!" Came the booming voice of the instructor. 

Heart sinking, Mi Na gasped and escaped out of the bushes unnoticed. After all her hard work, she wouldn't get to see T suffer after all. 

oOo 

After putting the ropes back in their original place and completing the whole course, nobody could blame Mi Na for collapsing onto the floor when entering her yard. It felt bliss. No worries. No thoughts. 

When she could hear her father and Hwang's voices in the distance, she quickly hauled herself onto her feet and brushed the dirt away from her (girl's) clothes. 

"Ah, Mi Na," her father said as he spotted her, "have you got the water?" 

"No..." 

"Have you made dinner yet?" 

"No..." 

"Have you bought the food?" 

"No..." Mi Na repeated, growing heated in the face. 

"Have you done anything...?" 

"Well... er - " 

"Mi Na..." Mi Na's father said with a hint of sorrow in his voice. 

"I'll go do that now," Mi Na uttered quietly. Her eyes darted at Hwang who was standing next to her father. Mi Na was prepared to swear there was a slight smile emerging upon the corners of his lips. She frowned. 

When Mi Na was about to walk indoors to get a bucket, Hwang came to a halt in front of her and tossed a bundle of clothes in her arms. 

"What are you playing at?" Mi Na asked, frowning. 

"Here are the clothes you said you would wash," Hwang said simply. 

"I never knew you were that naïve! I wasn't serious, you know." 

"You owe me for not blowing your 'secret'. Mi Na, I'm only keeping this quiet so you can quit while you've still got the chance -" Hwang paused and stared into Mi Na's face, "What's wrong with you? You look like your about to drop dead any minute now." 

"Well, let me think," Mi Na began sarcastically, "I train for about half the day and then come home and do like ten chores - some of them for _you_ even. I get to sleep for five hours or so which is a _very_ long time. In conclusion, I'm all fine and dandy" 

"By joining the Coastal Defence Force, Mi Na, you brought this headache upon yourself." Hwang raised his eyebrows and walked away, leaving Mi Na fuming. 

oOo 

Mi Na's fingers carelessly hovered over the last loaf of bread left. Her eyelids felt heavy and would not mind having to shut the world out. She was brought back to earth when someone prodded her in the back. She steered round, quite annoyed. 

"What?" she snapped. 

"It's about time you moved from there. I've been waiting quite some time, you know," a figure murmured from behind a thick hood. 

Mi Na stared at the person for a minute and with a frown, realised that she was at the bazaar. Mi Na turned back around and quickly took the bread. 

"Hey, _I_ need that!" She was surprised to hear a boy's voice from behind that hood. 

"... Okay, you can take it if you tell me what you've got to hide," Mi Na said, turning round to face him. She couldn't resist the urge to reach out to his hood. 

The boy took a hold of Mi Na's hand firmly as soon as she lay a finger on it, "Don't! Look, my mother's ill and so I have to do the shopping but I feel uncomfortable with all these women around. There are some places which are only for women and there are some places which are only meant to be for men, you know what I mean? Don't tell anyone I was here." 

"Mm-hmm, yeah I understand you but, honestly, don't you think you'll attract more attention dressed like this? And another thing, men are not forbidden from this place, I do see some of them around. I think your being a bit too dramatic about this." 

The boy just shrugged, snatched the loaf of bread from Mi Na's hand and began walking over to a stocky lady. Mi Na jogged up towards him and stopped right in front of him. 

"What do you think you're doing with my bread?" Mi Na asked. 

"You said I could have it," the boy answered simply. 

"I changed my mind," Mi Na said. She noticed some buckets stacked up in a corner of the little stall. A grin spread across her face. "But if you can help me with some things then your very welcome to take it." 

After he helped Mi Na get the water, he actually offered to help her with more chores which Mi Na was grateful for. It turned out that he - or Kwan as he was known- was more considerate than he first appeared to be. Mi Na had definitely gained a valuable friend. 

oOo 

Straight after training the next day, Mi Na and her friends were held back by the instructor to "have a quiet word". Mi Na knew it wasn't going to be very quiet as she had an idea on what he was going to rant on about. 

"So..." the instructor sneered. He stared at each and every face before him. 

_So what?_ Mi Na thought. She pretended to scratch her nose to hide her smile. She was still hyper from that afternoon's training session where her and her friends kept reminding T of his misfortunes and hard luck. 

"So, you think it's funny to get involved in what members of the Force six ranks above you are doing? Did it not occur to you what they must be going through?" the instructor spat. 

Mi Na glanced at her friends and understood by the bewildered expressions on their faces that they also did not know what he was talking about. 

"Um, sir," Jung courageously spoke between the waterfall of spit, "What exactly are they going through?" 

The instructor glared at him for a minute or two before speaking, "The youth of today! No respect for their elders! If I were your parent I would be ashamed to call you my son, boy." 

Mi Na could see Jung rolling his eyes slightly but thankfully it wasn't visible to the instructor. He was too busy searching through bits of parchment. Finally, when he found what he was looking for, he pulled it out and held it high for all the boys (and Mi Na) to see. On it, in Korean text, was written: 

_Annual Championship_

_Please sign your name clearly below if you wish to take part. Only members of 10 - 12 ranks can sign below._

_NOTE: All members of nine ranks are entered automatically._

Below that, Mi Na could see a long list of names. She squinted when she noticed her own name there, hoping she had misread it. But it was still there even when she looked at it properly. 

"Here in the Force we have zero tolerance for actions like that. So... we decided to teach you a lesson by letting you participate in this event. Now, I'm going to let you know who your opponent is - they're all masters so you won't be able to have an easy win. This should tell you to think twice about what you do in the future," he informed them gleefully. 

With a last glare, the instructor walked out of sight. Mi Na shot a quizzical look at her friends. 

"Okay, who did this?" Jung asked, his eyes raking each of his friends' faces. 

"Don't you get it?" Yong began, "T did this to get back at us! His handwriting is so obvious." 

"What?! Why that little - " 

"Does anyone even know what this Championship thing is?" Sun asked. His face paled considerably. 

"You fight one of the other member's of the Force and if you win them then you have to go on this trip where they see what you can do if you were watching the Coast. My brother did it and he said it was all a waste of time." Yong shook his head intelligently. 

"T is going to be sorry when I -" 

Mi Na never got to find out what Jung was going to do as he quickly shut up at the sight of the instructor. He gave each of them a fierce look as he handed out rolls of parchment. 

"Now, written on these is your opponent. You may go now, but each of you _will_ be punished further." 

Mi Na carelessly unrolled the sheet of parchment. It almost fell out of her grasp when she saw what was written on it: 

_Hwang Sung Kyung._

oOo 

**Author's Notes: **So, there it is. I got this finished just days after I posted the last chapter up so I'm pretty happy about that =D and I've also wrote up chapter 4 and 5 these past few day - yay! A thank you to the reviewers: 

**Xingy: **Wow, did I just update sooner for the first time? Hehe! I'm glad your so into this. Do you have MSN? 

**The Final Fantasy Warrior: **Yes, I agree the last chapter needed a lot more description. I was lost for ideas at the time that's why I didn't like that last one at all. I was a bit more enthusiastic with this chapter and so I tried to make it more wordy! Thanks for the long review =). 

**Charles Rocketboy: **You mean it was very sudden? Yeah, I definitely thought it was sudden but at the time I wrote that (it was in 2003) I was in a hurry to break a fast or something and I just wanted to get this story started so I just threw it together in a couple of minutes. In this chapter, I was trying to show the hatred Mi Na and T have. It was quite fun to type! Thanks for your reviews, I'll keep in mind your suggestions. 

**Sea Wolf: **Hey, your back! Thanks for the review. I checked your Kilik journal and I have to say it's really funny! I especially like how you use mangoes as the comments feature =D! Do you mind if I comment out of the blue? 

**Robot Cat: **Thanks for the nice review! Are you still working on your two websites? Answer to _Are you good for HTML? _(you put this up in your sig): I know quite a lot of HTML and I also know CCS which comes in handy when you've got a website. If you want me to help you, which I'll be glad to do, just email me. 

**Morningslight: **Yeah I'm definitely going to start on that soon that's why I already wrote two chapters of this just in case my time gets divided too much =D. 

**Desdinova: **Thanks for your kind words =). I think I was still angry about the fact that it got deleted that's probably why I didn't provide enough detail but your right about that and that's why I'm trying to insert more things that will help the reader understand the story more better (I'm also calming down - no use crying about spilt milk, huh?). Thanks again for taking time to review. 

Thanks all of you for your continued support. Well, bye for now. 

-31/7/04 


	5. Battling

** Hidden Ambitions**

Chapter 4: Battling

She gulped hard. Yong noticed her horrified look and asked her what was wrong.

"Um... n-nothing... nope, nothing," Mi Na stuttered.

"Oh I see. You're scared of who you're going to face. Who is it?" Yong asked,  
trying to read the parchment over her shoulder.

"Hwang Sung Kyung," Mi Na said, acid in her voice.

oOo

From that day on, Mi Na and her group of friends were so terrified that they  
arranged to meet up in an open space and train as hard as possible. They did not want  
to get crushed when the day of the Fight came. For now, it was useful that her father  
was Hwang's Master because she could watch from afar and take notes of Hwang's moves.

Kwan, the young boy Mi Na had met at the market, was being rather very helpful. He  
offered to help her with some of her usual chores and took his time to give her   
company while she tried to finish them herself. She didn't show it but she was   
extremely glad that she had met him.

On one busy day, Mi Na was being dragged around in the market by Yon, one her  
'friends'. Her sister was to have her first baby, and Yon wanted to make her some  
clothing as a gift so she was searching for some good material.

"It must be great to be married, huh Mi Na?" Yon commented out of the blue.

"Yeah, it must absolutely wonderful being trapped in the house, slaving around," Mi  
Na said sarcastically.

"Mi Na, you talk about marriage as if it's a horrible thing."

"Because it is," Mi Na replied simply.

"You know Hwang..." Yon began but then quickly quietened down of embarrassment. Mi  
Na rolled her eyes really obviously. Some of her friends actually _liked_ Hwang but Mi  
Na herself failed to see why.

"What?" She snapped. Mi Na came to a halt in front of a stack of beautiful and  
luxurious silks. She picked up the sheet on top and observed it with distaste.

"Never mind..." Yon whimpered.

Mi Na cast her a look of aggravation but soon a mischievous smile played upon her  
lips. "You know... I think Hwang sort of likes you. I mean, it's so obvious the way he  
looks at you!"

"He likes me?" Yon stared at her disbelievingly.

"Trust me, I _know_ Hwang and I should know when he likes someone," Mi Na said,  
nodding her head innocently, "He asked me if you could meet him at Sunset Point to  
er... watch the sunset with him."

Yon buried her face in her hands and started giggling rather loudly. Mi Na took a  
step back from her, raising her eyebrows.

oOo

Mi Na stepped out onto the yard, holding out a tray on which two cups were placed  
tidily. She walked up to her father, who was observing Hwang intently, and offered him  
the tea.

"Mi Na, could you keep my cup warm, I just need to... attend to some business," her  
father briskly walked out of sight.

Hwang stopped what he was doing and walked over to Mi Na, taking the cup of tea  
from the tray.

"Um... Hwang," Mi Na began, "I told my friend that you... er... liked her - "

"WHAT?" Hwang cut in. His cup slipped out of his hands and shattered onto the  
ground.

"Well, what was I to do? She keeps talking about you and it really gets on my  
nerves so I told her you like her and that you want to meet up with her at Sunset  
Point..."

"Seung, how could you do that?" Hwang's eyes widened and they glared straight at Mi  
Na, "You are going to tell this friend of yours that I don't have the slightest bit of  
interest in her and that I don't want to meet her. At all."

"I can't," Mi Na said simply, shrugging her shoulders and giving a fake sigh, "I  
can't see her for the rest of the week because I've got too much work to do. Too many  
chores."

"Seung, I can't believe you can still be so immature. I'm not telling this friend  
to stay away from me because you are." Hwang looked so angry that it even unnerved Mi  
Na.

"I told you Hwang, I can't, okay? Looks like you have to meet her after all."

Mi Na's father stepped out of the house. Hwang shook his head angrily but picked up  
his sword and began performing his moves just to please her father.

Mi Na handed her father the cup of tea but she could tell his attention was focused  
on Hwang. She saw admiration in his eyes for Hwang but she failed to see it for   
herself. She gave a heavy sigh and turned her eyes on Hwang. He jumped up and sliced  
the air mercilessly.

"Ho!" Mi Na shouted without thinking, just to see what his reaction would be.

Hwang jerked his head towards Mi Na and fell to the ground in a heap. Her father  
ran up to him in an instant but Mi Na just took her time in ambling up to him.

"Hwang, I hope your not hurt?" Mi Na cried but was inwardly laughing hard and  
hoping for the exact opposite.

Her father took a hold of his arm gently and announced, that it was sprained. Mi Na sniggered.

"Oh no!" _Oh Yes!_  
oOo

The day of the fight came all too sun for Mi Na's liking. Outside. the sun shone brightly onto the dusty fighting ring, giving it some light but inside, where Mi Na was, the atmosphere was tense. She could tell her friends were all beyond nervous.

She heard someone from outside call her. She knew it was her turn and got up to walk onto the ring. In all her worry, she forgot that Hwang had an arm injury and how he might cope.

When Mi Na stepped outside, she noticed that her opponent was not Hwang. A wave of relief swept over her despite the fact that the new opponent was quite a few times bigger than her.

As soon as she heard the word fight, her body jumped into action. She kicked the large man from behind and knocked him onto the ground. A grin spread across her face as she realised this was what she loved and longed to do. She soon fell to the ground herself as her opponent kicked her in the shins. Her youth gave her an advantage because she had more agility. She did a few throws to tire him out and finished him off with a high kick in the head. It was over. All in a flash.

An elderly man walked up to her and handed her some water which Mi Na took gratefully.

"That was an excellent performance. I'm quite surprised because of your rank. I train members of six ranks above yours but I would like to offer you a place in a practice attempt at watching the Coast. Would you like to?" the elder rambled.

Mi Na frowned in thought. She would, of course, have loved to accept but then she realised that it would be hard to explain to her father how she would stay away from home so she knew her answer would have to be no. A little voice in her told her that opportunities like these didn't come every day to every young Korean girl. She nodded to the elder.

oOo

**Author's Notes: **So sorry for the long wait. I've been busy but I don't have a really good excuse other than the fact that my stories got deleted AGAIN from the computer so this time I really AM saving onto disk (see, there's a floppy in the disk drive as I type this)! Thanks for the reviews. Please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter. Thanks ).

26.12.04


	6. Rescuing

Again and again, Mi Na ran through a little plan in her head as she crept in the night. After a little while, she finally arrived at the little room Hwang was referring to earlier that day. Mi Na breathed in while stepping cautiously past a guard. She saw Cho tied to a pole right in the center of the room.

Mi Na walked over to her and quickly and quietly began untying the chunky ropes that pressed her against the pole.

"Mi Na wh - " Cho burst out once she was free but was cut in by the yelling of a guard.

"What's going on in there?"

Without warning, Mi Na pushed Cho past the guard and ran as fast she could. Cho understood that the guard had alerted more men and ran behind Mi Na with a herd of angry guards trailing behind them both.

Mi Na didn't know how long she was dashing madly for but she knew she had to carry on. She risked turning her head for a second to look behind her shoulder. Cho's face was stunned yet her legs were in motion while the guards were quite a bit behind them. When she looked ahead of her, she saw a little house at the edge of a forest. Mi Na sprinted towards it, without caring what was around her.

Mi Na and Cho finally stopped behind a tree, away from sight, and regained their breath.

"Wh-where's your family?" Mi Na asked at last, keeping an eye ahead at the thick forest. It looked dark and frightening under the night's sky.

"I don't know. Probably left this village, even though we just arrived a couple of months ago. What I did was too shameful for them to face," Cho replied, her head lowered.

Mi Na gently placed a hand on her shoulder and handed her the maroon bag she had been carrying.

"Take this and go," she said, pointing ahead at the forest, "I don't know what's past this but it's worth a try, hmm? Especially if your family thinks you're... dead..."

Cho smiled, making her look quite pretty. She then thanked Mi Na and walked deeper into the forest, turning back to wave at Mi Na one last time. Mi Na smiled slightly and then turned to see the guards that were approaching the little house. Hwang's little house. As soon as the guards knocked firmly on the door, Hwang opened it and questioned them what they were doing here. Mi Na then saw Hwang and a guard talking (while the other guards looked around lazily) and guessed that they were talking about her and Cho. After a few minutes, the guards bowed at Hwang and left but Hwang didn't go back inside. Instead, he scanned the place and Mi Na was prepared to swear he had just looked at her. She was now sure that he had spotted her as he was walking over to the place where she was standing.

Mi Na inched backwards but Hwang grabbed onto her arm and pulled her out of her hiding spot.

"You don't even have to explain. I know what's going on this time Seung," Hwang said, not realising he was digging his nails into her arm, "Did you know that Cho has just escaped? Coincidence? I think not."

Mi Na bit into the hand that was holding onto her with her teeth, causing Hwang to gasp in pain. She took a step back and frowned at the solemn man before her, "You men are ruthless. You don't even know this woman and yet you are going to execute her. You would kill your own women when there is a time of war."

"We don't know this woman and neither do you. What she and you do is shameful, Seung. She was not innocent," Hwang answered quickly.

"Oh so this is how you treat your women? Brilliant," Mi Na argued.

Hwang let out a sigh and shook his head. "Come inside, it's cold out here. Besides, they might still be searching in this area."

A frown still upon her face, Mi Na walked closely behind Hwang. She was glad, however, to have stepped inside the warmth of his house.

"Sit," Hwang commanded.

Mi Na would have done the exact opposite had she not been so tired. She knelt down on the tidy floor and looked around. Most things were crammed into a small corner but the room still looked neat with a tiny table filling an empty space.

"You know Hwang, you _have_ changed a lot," Mi Na said, not standing the silence that hung in the air.

"And you haven't changed at all," Hwang added. He didn't look at Mi Na as he was too busy observing some documents.

"Hm, I still remember when I was a little girl - about four - and you were young too," Mi Na began, only to pause to let out a chuckle, "You used to always hang around with me and play with me. We used to have such a great time, huh Hwang?"

Hwang tore his eyes away from the sheets of parchment to look at Mi Na. There was a silence and then Hwang finally answered, "... I... don't remember, Seung."

Mi Na raised her eyebrows as she let out a sarcastic laugh and then said, "Hwang, why have you thrown your childhood away? You act as if you never were a child. Don't you remember playing with me? Don't you remember telling me all these great stories. You used to tell me that the rain was there when people cried and that milk was from mountain peaks. I thought you were _so_ clever, but I didn't know you were lying. Why did you lie Hwang? Hm?"

Hwang held out the parchment in front of his eyes so that he wouldn't have to meet Mi Na's stern gaze. When he thought she had waited enough he finally told her, "I... I guess I wanted to be the hero in your eyes at that time, it was so easy to make you believe. I was naive - we both were."

"But you were, Hwang," Mi Na said to him quickly, "And then everything changed when you learnt about swords and weapons. You turned away from me as if you had forgotten me, in fact you acted as if we were strangers to each other."

"Seung, times changed and so I had to change with them. There was a war going on and it was taking lives that were close to me."

Mi Na shrugged her shoulders and got up from where she was sitting. She walked up behind Hwang and glared at him sternly. "You don't have to tell me all your excuses, you know. I was okay because I found another friend for your replacement. In fact, Yunsung was and is a better person than you ever were."

Hwang chose to leave this conversation at that. He got out a quill and began scribbling on the parchment in Hanguk when Mi Na snatched it away.

"You're such a sad drip. What is this anyways?" She began reading what was on it and nodded.

"Seung, that's not for you. It's plans for the Coastal Defence Force training," Hwang said, taking the parchment back.

"I never knew you did the training for it."

"I don't," Hwang answered absent-mindedly, "But I've been asked to do something now please, Seung, be quiet."

Mi Na let out a quiet yawn and walked into the small kitchen as Hwang continued writing. Among the little boxes and bowls, she saw a single red apple and cut it in half. As she took a bite from one half, she walked up to Hwang and gave him the other. He thanked her quietly but didn't touch it, too absorbed in his Coastal Defence Force duties. Once he had finished his writing, he walked up to her and threw a folded piece of parchment into her hands.

"What's this?"

"I don't know. I don't read other people's private things but it was forwarded to my address. I'm assuming its from the Coast for you because it has Song Hwang on it."

Mi Na unfolded it and saw that it contained details about the trip on watching the coast as a practice attempt. She nodded and pocketed it once she had finished reading it. She then cleared her throat to speak. "Hey... um... Hwang. I - er - am sorry about before... you know with Yon and all. Even you don't deserve her," Mi Na said rather quietly.

Hwang chose to ignore her and pretended to be re-reading what he had just wrote up.

"Look, what do I have to do to tell you that I didn't mean it?" Mi Na demanded.

Hwang turned to face her as he picked up the apple that she had given him. "You could make more rice for me. They weren't bad tonight - if you really are sorry."

Mi Na huffed and stared at him angrily. Very quickly, though, a suspicious smile formed on her face. "You know what? I'll do something better than that. I'll _ teach_ you how to make them."

Hwang stared at her as if she was joking. Then, as if by some miracle, his facial features softened and his lips curved into a smile. Mi Na looked at him as if he had committed murder. Well, it had been an extremely long time since she had seen him smile.

"Wow, did you just... smile?" Mi Na questioned, then she began talking to herself, "No, no, it's late and I'm tired. I'm not going mad."

Hwang gave a quiet laugh at her antics, throwing Mi Na into even more confusion. She edged for the door, not taking her large eyes off him. "You know what, Hwang? I - er - had better go now. I mean the sun has risen and everything so um... I'll leave the rice to another time... well bye."

-

**Author's Notes: **I've added two chapters in one update . Read on. 17/02/05


	7. Proposing

**Chapter 6: **Proposing

At the training grounds all the boys were in neat rows listening to the instructor ranting and getting carried away on the subject about the youth of these days.

Mi Na's shoulder's were tensed. She could feel T breathing on her back. Next thing she knew, she was slammed into the boy in front of her by T's flat hands. Enraged, Mi Na turned around and gripped on her Zanbatou tightly.

All the other boys backed away, giving enough space for Mi Na and T to go head to head.

"Come off it Hwang. He just envies you because his own plan back-fired on him," Sun cried through the crowd.

Mi Na chose to ignore his reasoning voice for once and ducked down to dodge the slash from T's sword. She then whipped round, her own Zanbatou held out perfectly, and whacked T in the shins. One of the boys from T's little group stood in front of her and aimed a punch right at Mi Na's face. Mi Na fell to the floor, a few feet away from the instructor's feet who had desperately pushed past the crowd of entertained boys.

The instructor grabbed onto T and Mi Na's arms with both of his hands and led them indoors.

"Practice the stances," he barked to the boys behind him, "And you two will be staying extra hours..."

-

Tired and exhausted, Mi Na got home just before the sun was ready to set. She knew the time was coming near for that Coastal Defence Force practice trip and she had yet to make up a good enough excuse that would allow her to stay away from home for a while without being found out.

She walked indoors as she massaged her arm gently. She was about to call her father but Mi Na silenced herself in time as she heard voices coming from the main room. Mi Na glanced slightly from the doorway to see Hwang and her father. They were both sitting down, facing opposite each other. _Probably backbiting about me again_, Mi Na thought.

"Master, the truth is, I worry more than ever about your daughter now," came Hwang's voice, frustration visible the tone of it.

His master nodded at him. Mi Na thought she saw a smile on the corners of his lips but she couldn't see much properly so she didn't think much of it.

"And I think it is the right time... to get her married to a fine man," Hwang spoke and then added hastily, "That can handle her."

Mi Na's eyes widened. Her heart drummed against her chest. She listened sharply into the conversation.

"I understand what you are saying Hwang," her father began, taking his time with his words, "And I would like to use this opportunity to ask if you could marry her. I think _you_ are the only man that can handle her and understand her."

Mi Na grew very heated in the face. How could her father ask this thing to spend the rest of life with her? She darted her eyes at Hwang for a fleeting second but saw that he didn't look any different by this proposal. She failed to realise that a lot of new things were going through his mind. Mi Na shut her eyes tightly, hoping with all her might that Hwang would say no. Soon, however, another part of her felt differently. If Hwang said no, would it mean that he thought he was too good for Mi Na?

Complete silence.

Then Hwang breathed in slowly and finally answered, "I'm sorry Master. I don't think it would be fair for your daughter if I'm away most of the time doing military duties. I think she deserves someone different who would allow her to be a normal wife."

Mi Na turned away from them both as she breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. She then scowled at how Hwang felt the need to sugar-coat the reason he didn't want to marry her. Mi Na was about to walk away but she stopped in her tracks when she heard her father's upsetting sigh. She hunched her shoulders sadly. She felt bad because she knew her father thought he was bringing her happiness by getting her married which she openly pushed away.

"Master," Hwang said rather quietly, "I am sorry. I... I will help you find a worthy partner for your daughter."

-

The sun had just set that very same day, leaving behind darkness. Mi Na was walking along slowly in a field with high grass. She was holding a few small, yet very beautiful, flowers, that she had picked to give to her father. Without warning, she knocked into a man. However, she didn't feel like shouting at him and just pushed herself onto her feet wordlessly.

"Mi Na, is that you?" the man said, causing Mi Na to startle. It was Kwan.

"What are you doing here?" Mi Na asked.

"Just going for a walk. Well, actually I don't like to see my parents angry which is what they are now because my brother can't even find a wife. They keep shouting at him everyday," Kwan explained.

Mi Na rolled her eyes at the word wife and twirled the flowers in her hands.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something Mi Na but never could find you," Kwan said, "Um... I want to introduce you to my brother and then who knows? You might - OUCH!"

Kwan had immediately shut up when Mi Na had crushed his foot with her own. "Why do people rub MARRIAGE in my face? Don't you all understand that I'm happy with the way I am?"

With that, Mi Na stalked off. Kwan stared after her disbelievingly.

-

**Author's Notes: **Well, hope you like it so far . I've written quite a few chapters up in the past month and I'm actually nearly finished ). Please do review, thanks .


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